Why your emotional wellbeing is important

Staying well and living with psoriasis

Importance of emotional wellbeing

In some instances, you may experience feelings of low mood that might be caused by one of many stressors and big life events – whether that’s dealing with an illness, parenting, work stress, experiencing family, housing or money issues, relationship struggles, bereavement, or other concerns. It is now accepted that stress is associated with inflammation that can trigger psoriasis.

Stress can also make existing psoriasis worse. Living with psoriasis can be challenging and things that can cause people with psoriasis to experience stress include:

Not knowing when they are going to have another flare
Trying to find a healthcare professional who understands and helps
Feelings of embarrassment or shame
Fear of rejection due to social stigma
Lack of confidence
Low self-esteem
Negative body image

These negative emotions prompt the release of inflammation which can worsen your psoriasis and can lead to anxiety and depression. Depression, anxiety, anger, and shame are all feelings that people with psoriasis have reported.

What is anxiety?

It’s normal for people to experience anxiety during periods of stress, however sometimes people experience anxiety more often or more intensely which affects their everyday functioning. There are many different types of anxiety. One of them is Generalised Anxiety Disorder and some of its symptoms may include:

Feeling on edge or worried much of the time
Having difficulty concentrating or sleeping
Experiencing physical sensations such as dizziness or heart palpitations

What is depression?

Feeling down from time to time is normal. However, depression is much more than this and occurs when people experience persistent sadness for an extended period of time.

The severity of depression can vary from individuals. However, some of the recognised symptoms include:

Persistent low mood or sadness
Feeling of hopelessness
Weight loss or gain
Insomnia or hypersomnia
Fatigue
Feeling worthless or excessive/inappropriate guilt
Decreased concentration
Suicidal thoughts
Little interest or pleasure in doing things
Repetitive/unintentional movements or slowness

What does all this mean for me?

It is possible to understand the level of your anxiety or depression through completing calmness, mood and wellbeing questionnaires. Bionical Health are here to support you every step of the way, and to help, you will receive ongoing reminders to complete your questionnaires couple of weeks. Completing these questionnaires consistently may help you to improve your mental wellbeing.

If the Bionical Health team sees from your calmness, mood, and wellbeing questionnaires that your anxiety and/or depression scores are declining, we will contact you and offer individualised support with a qualified therapist to help you understand and manage your mood. Any information that you share with the therapist will be treated with the upmost respect and in line with the privacy notice which you can find on your Service User Guide. In the event that you provide any information that may lead us to believe that you are at significant risk of harm or if your life is in immediate danger, there may be a necessity for confidentiality to be waived.

If you feel low, it can be hard to stay motivated about making positive lifestyle choices. The good news is that there are lots of things we can do to improve our mood and some of the following tips can support you.

Key tips to improve your mood

Change how you perceive your thoughts

There are different unhelpful thinking patterns we all experience. One of them is called catastrophising. This occurs when someone assumes the worst-case scenario or thinks things are much worse than they actually are. For example, you may not want to take part in social activities because of what you feel others will think of you. This can cause stress and feelings of anxiety and depression. The following activities can help manage these thoughts.

Mindfulness exercises

Mindfulness exercises are focused on experiencing the present moment without thoughts of judgement. As a result of practicing them, you may realise that they help you to better manage catastrophising thoughts and bring you back to fully experience the present moment. This may provide you with some space between what’s happening now and the things you’re assuming will happen, like what you think people may think of you.

Try the following activities to help you to become more mindful:

Be mindful to your thought patterns:

You may not realise you are catastrophising. Try to be mindful of your thoughts and pay attention to what you are thinking. Ask yourself whether what you are thinking is a perceived disaster or a definite outcome.

Schedule a time to manage your thoughts:

Schedule a period of time every day and write down each of your negative thoughts. This session can help break the habit of dwelling on your worries and act as a safety net to contain your worries.

Focus on solutions:

Instead of viewing each item of your list as a fact, treat them as theories you are testing out and look for solutions to manage them. Try asking yourself:

What is the evidence that the thought is true?
What is the probability that what I am scared of will actually happen?
Is the thought helpful? How will worrying about it help?
What would I say to a friend who had this worry?

Make a list of all the solutions you can think of and write them down. Once you have evaluated your options, make an action plan. You may feel better when you have a plan, and you start addressing your concerns.

Counting your blessings:

It can help to write down a few things in your scheduled time to manage your thoughts that you are grateful for. This will remind you of the positive things in your life and draw focus away from the negative thoughts.

Exercise

Being physically active can be beneficial for your psoriasis and physical health and help your wellbeing. Exercising can improve your self-esteem and boosts your mood. For more advice on how much exercise you should do, take a look at our article on ‘Keeping active with psoriasis’.

Diet

Eating a healthy, balanced diet is also beneficial for your psoriasis, mental and physical health. For more advice on your diet, head over to our article on ‘Nutrition and psoriasis’.

Sleep

Getting enough sleep each night is important for a number of reasons, but supporting brain function is one of them. A lack of sleep can affect your mood and the way you process information, potentially causing anxiety and depression to worsen. For more advice on how to improve your sleep, see our article on ‘Sleep and psoriasis’.

Make sure that one of these is something that usually gives you pleasure or satisfaction: seeing friends, reading for pleasure, going to a film alone or with others. Write yourself a note of when and where you are going to do this. Tick off when you have done it and set new goals.

Relaxation techniques:

Try taking a few deep breaths to calm yourself before addressing your negative thoughts. Slow, controlled breathing can help to reduce anxiety or calm depressive or anxious thoughts – it only takes a few moments, and it can be done anywhere. Doing yoga or other forms of light exercise, listening to calming music or engaging in a hobby you enjoy can also help.

Practising relaxation could also help improve your condition, since stressis a major trigger for flares or worsening of psoriasis. Schedule time to become more conscious of the present moment (practising breathing exercises is a good way to start).

The Breathing Bubble is an audiovisual guide that may help you maintain rhythm and pace during your breathing sessions. In the link below it can help to watch the bubble as it expands and contract and then follow with your breath.

Take a deep breath - Bing video

If you are feeling that your mental health is in decline, contact your GP, Emergency Services or Samaritans 116 123.